Photoresponsive Crown Ethers

Abstract

Photoresponsive systems are ubiquitously seen in nature: photosynthesis, vision, phototropism, and phototaxis are typical examples. In these natural systems, light is used as a “trigger” to cause subsequent events. We have been interested in the application of the photoresponsive phenomena to biomimetic systems. To mimic the fundamental phenomena of such photoresponsive systems, one has to design a system in which a photoantenna to capture a photon is combined with a functional group to mediate some subsequent event.